Many people assume that politics and economics are separate spheres. We find ourselves often harkening back to the even older tradition of referring to "political economy". After all it was Harold Laswell, who is regarded as the father of modern political science, that famously defined politics as who gets what, when and how. Isn't that the role of the price mechanism and the market economy? The highlight of the holiday-shortened week (Japan Monday, US Thursday) ahead are two official meetings. The EU and OPEC. There are three issues at the EU meeting that will be important for investors. First, the new European ... (full story)